New Traction Motor Being Installed

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CopperRoad

Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Messages
13
I took the car in Monday (1.20.14) for its first service, and the PDM update. I asked them to look into the sharp metallic click that appeared to emanate from the front left of the vehicle during acceleration from stop (sometimes during coming to a stop). I thought for a while it might have been the Service Bulletin ntb12-055c... issue with the front axle... so I never thought too much of it. That wasn't it. The often talked about "Leaf expert" came out and confirmed this morning that it's an issue is with the traction motor. They've ordered a motor from Japan. Stuck with a Rogue for 2-3 weeks. Have to buy gas. Boo!

Has anyone else dealt with this? If so, any issues after the new motor was installed?

2013 SL
6,200 mi
 
mwalsh said:
I'm pretty confident in saying that I think this is the first we've heard of a motor needing to be replaced.
You wonder if it really needed to this time, or if that problem was incorrectly diagnosed.
 
You wonder if it really needed to this time, or if that problem was incorrectly diagnosed.

It's crossed my mind... seeing that it appears to be rare. But, if you can't trust the "Leaf expert", who can you trust. ;)
 
This may be the case where the factory would like to see a real world "issue" before it becomes a "failure".
I bet it gets shipped back for a full teardown.
 
Yeah rare as in probably the only one! :shock: Hm you have a '13 but the motor is from Japan. Guess they haven't started making them here yet...

Mostly city or freeway driving? Drive the car hard? Rough roads?
 
Mostly city or freeway driving? Drive the car hard? Rough roads?

I would say it's an even mix of city & freeway driving. Leaning a bit towards city. Not hard at all. Los Angeles roads, nothing too jarring.
 
CopperRoad said:
I took the car in Monday (1.20.14) for its first service, and the PDM update. I asked them to look into the sharp metallic click that appeared to emanate from the front left of the vehicle during acceleration from stop (sometimes during coming to a stop).

I have this exact same noise/same conditions. Started about 200 miles ago, will be taking it into the dealer for diagnosis next Monday. I'll let you all know what comes of it.
 
GIBBER said:
CopperRoad said:
I took the car in Monday (1.20.14) for its first service, and the PDM update. I asked them to look into the sharp metallic click that appeared to emanate from the front left of the vehicle during acceleration from stop (sometimes during coming to a stop).

I have this exact same noise/same conditions. Started about 200 miles ago, will be taking it into the dealer for diagnosis next Monday. I'll let you all know what comes of it.

I had the same symptoms as well. Dealer fixed it by removing and re-lubing the front axle shafts. I think that was the remedy specified in the TSB that was referred to in the OP. No issues 5K miles later.
 
TomT said:
I'm going on record that this will have nothing to do with the reported problem...

CopperRoad said:
Has anyone else dealt with this? If so, any issues after the new motor was installed?

We'll never know, though, because the symptom will disappear. I'm sure that lubing the axle shafts is part of the reassembly procedure.
 
Yep! "There was a terrible squealing noise and when we replaced the entire engine, it went away..."

Boomer23 said:
TomT said:
I'm going on record that this will have nothing to do with the reported problem...
CopperRoad said:
Has anyone else dealt with this? If so, any issues after the new motor was installed?
We'll never know, though, because the symptom will disappear. I'm sure that lubing the axle shafts is part of the reassembly procedure.
 
I'm going on record that this will have nothing to do with the reported problem...


I'm skeptical too. All things in my mind pointed to the known axle issue. (Though I hadn't heard the sound from those confirmed issues) They said they inspected the car for that. I would really hope they actual did that before going down this path. Seems wildly counterintuitive to do otherwise.
 
CopperRoad said:
I'm going on record that this will have nothing to do with the reported problem...


I'm skeptical too. All things in my mind pointed to the known axle issue. (Though I hadn't heard the sound from those confirmed issues) They said they inspected the car for that. I would really hope they actual did that before going down this path. Seems wildly counterintuitive to do otherwise.
I, too, have this clicking sound from the left axle. They repacked the fittings and boots as per the TSB but the noise persists and is slowly getting louder. I figured I'd keep driving it until became easier to diagnose. Once the CV joint fails (which is what I was guessing - never would have thought traction motor) it's pretty easy to spot the problem :).
 
Same situation here.

TickTock said:
[I, too, have this clicking sound from the left axle. They repacked the fittings and boots as per the TSB but the noise persists and is slowly getting louder. I figured I'd keep driving it until became easier to diagnose. Once the CV joint fails (which is what I was guessing - never would have thought traction motor) it's pretty easy to spot the problem :).
 
Mine is getting pretty crunchy as well. I'm going to wait for the first year battery checkup in 3 months or so unless it gets really bad. Started around 3800 miles now have 4500.
 
DanCar said:
Is there a way to see service bulletins online?
http://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/Knowledgebase.html?catid=783" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You have to sign up for a free account w/which you can download 2 files per/day (via the 3.5" disk icon). Unfortunately, not all TSBs are up (e.g. NTB13-098).

edit: There's appears to be a mistake. I found NTB13-098 via http://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/latest-uploads/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; then http://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/latest-uploads/26585-ntb13-098-service-campaign.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; then http://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/Knowledgebase.html?linkid=3908&catid=802#.UuIJrvuIYeM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
 
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